Pope Francis might be the cool pope, but his record on queer issues isn’t great. He’s working to change that, though — he recently said that the Catholic Church owes gay people — along with other oppressed classes — an apology. That news and more in our look at the intersection of religion and LGBTQ issues from around the world!

The Scottish Episcopal Church synod approved a major change in the definition of marriage—deleting the portion that reads that marriage is the union “of one man and one woman.” Bishop Dr Gregor Duncan explained that this is “the beginning of a formal process of canonical change.” If the church moves forward it could face sanctions from the Anglican Communion similar to those faced by the US Episcopal Church.

Although Nigerian gay asylum seeker Davis Mac-Iyalla was—as he described—the target of a “smear campaign from the Church of Nigeria,” he shared why he continues to work to support LGBTI Anglicans.

Muslim LGBTQ people reached out across social media to combat the intersection of Islamophobia and homophobia.

Unicorn Booty brings attentions to global issues of significance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. Our partnership with Equal Eyes, a news source produced in collaboration with UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, is part of that effort. To learn more, visit their site at Equal-Eyes.org.

This coverage promotes sexual and gender equality while highlighting issues of health, violence, culture, and legal and human rights. Equal Eyes provides advocates and allies a common frame of reference for the realities of global LGBTI communities. Through followup reporting and disseminating this coverage, our effort is to ensure we have a representation of the global stories that matter most or may have under-reporting.